London Fogs are a favourite rainy day drink of mine. Although they're fairly simple - an Earl Grey tea latte with a shot of vanilla syrup - I thought I would post my way of making them.
1. Boil water
2. While water is boiling, measure out one teaspoon of Earl Grey tea (or use one tea bag).
3. When the water boils, steep your tea. When I make lattes, I generally add a minute onto the time I normally steep tea for, because the flavour is slightly weakened by the milk. For a London Fog, this means 4.5-5 minutes.
4. While tea is steeping, fill another mug 1/3 full of milk
5. Add vanilla syrup. A standard amount is usually an ounce or half ounce, however I prefer to use much less syrup - at most a teaspoon. You could use normal vanilla extract, too - a quarter teaspoon of pure vanilla extract works well. Extract contains much less sugar, so if you do this you may wish to add a bit of sugar, too - or just enjoy the flavours.
6. Heat the milk in the microwave (you don't have to do this, but it helps the milk to foam).
7. Froth the milk. You could do this before adding the vanilla, but I like the way the flavour then mixes in with the milk.
8. Once your tea is done, add the tea to the milk foam. If you pour quickly without moving the mug, you should be able to do this without really affecting the foam.
Enjoy!
A note on Earl Grey Tea.
Earl Grey is tea, typically black, which has been scented (or flavoured) with bergamot, a type of citrus fruit. There are many varieties, but the most common distinction is between the ones that use real bergamot oil and the ones which use artificial bergamot flavour. Another popular kind of tea is Earl Grey Creme, which contains vanilla and mallow flowers as well as the bergamot. This tea also works well for London Fogs. There is a lot of difference in the taste of Earl Grey teas, and I would encourage you to try different kinds to see which you like.
